Chapter 347: The Axis

[Music recommendation: Lana Del Rey - Road To Death (Slowed + Reverb)]

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In the middle of a massive natural stone bridge suspended high above a cavernous canyon beneath the clear, star-filled night sky, two figures sat quietly facing the waterfall.

Aliana had found a comfortable spot in front of her husband, resting against his chest with their feet dangling over the edge of the deep cliff. Gavriel held her securely, one arm draped around her shoulders while the other rested comfortably around her waist.

There was a strange sense of comfort and connection that Aliana felt in this place, though she couldn’t quite understand why. Perhaps it stemmed from knowing this was the exact spot where Gavriel’s feet had first touched her world. Whatever the reason, the feeling was undeniable.

Gavriel, on the other hand, had remained silent ever since Aliana spoke those words to him.

"Because you must have been quite lovable even as a child."

Those words continued to echo in his mind.

No matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that someone could use the word lovable in reference to him.

Love... what did it even mean?

For thousands of years, he had heard people speak of it, watched them confess it to one another and witnessed how deeply it could affect them, yet he had never truly understood it.

Even when countless women had confessed their feelings to him in the past, forgetting their place in the process, he had felt absolutely nothing. If anything, he had viewed them as a nuisance, a prompt to cut them from his life entirely.

Yet with Aliana, he couldn’t stop his heart from racing at the thought of her connecting such an emotion to him.

Even knowing she was referring to the child he once was, and likely meant nothing more by it, he still felt as if... he had been starving for it his entire existence.

A place that had once represented the beginning of his exile now felt like the beginning of something else.

Because if he had never woken up here... he would have never met his wife.

Slowly, warmth seeped into his chest at the thought, and his arm tightened gently around her.

Feeling his arm tighten around her, Aliana finally spoke, "Gav..."

"Hm?"

"Have you ever thought about why you appeared here, of all places in this world?" Aliana asked softly.

Gavriel paused, contemplating her words before speaking. "Because this place rests at the centre of the axis."

Aliana lifted her chin, looking up to his sharp profile. "The centre of the axis?"

Gavriel offered a small nod. "A location that serves as the central point connecting all three worlds: Heaven, the world of the living, and the Underworld. Years later, whenever I wanted to open a portal back to the Underworld, this was the only ground stable enough to allow it. Only that it never opened for me anymore."

"I see..." she murmured quietly. "No wonder I feel this strange connection to this place."

"You do?" Gavriel asked with genuine curiosity in his voice.

She nodded against his shoulder.

"Perhaps you feel the pull of the Underworld from this spot because of your soul," he said softly.

"My soul," she whispered. "It still feels surreal to think I once belonged to the world you came from."

"It does," Gavriel whispered back.

"I cannot help but wonder if we... if we..."

"If we ever met there?" Gavriel completed her sentence.

A small smile touched Aliana’s lips as she looked into his eyes. "Maybe we did. Who knows?"

Gavriel held her gaze. "If we did, I wish... I’d remembered."

A quiet sadness tugged at Aliana’s chest upon wondering how a devil as powerful as Gavriel could have lost his memories in the first place.

Yet something deep inside her told her they must have known each other.

How else could she explain the broken visions that continued to haunt her?

’If only someone could fill in the blanks for us,’ Aliana thought quietly.

With that thought, she spoke, "Gav, I have been thinking... should we search for that mystery woman who met my ancestors and told them about the prophecy regarding my soul?"

As Gavriel pondered her words in silence, she continued, "I just have a feeling she holds the answers we’ve been searching for. Do you think there is a way we can find her?"

Gavriel’s eyes widened slightly at the realisation. "Perhaps we can."

"Really? How?" Aliana asked, her eyes searching his face with growing hope.

"We could summon the spirit of your ancestors," Gavriel explained slowly. "They could provide a description of her appearance and the exact location where their encounter took place."

He paused, looking out over the misty chasm. "However, if she was mortal and has since died, we would need her true name to call upon her soul. And if she is someone supernatural, she may have abandoned that location centuries ago."

Aliana pursed her lips before voicing her thoughts. "I think it is still worth a try. I don’t see any other lead right now, and doing something is better than doing nothing."

Gavriel’s eyes softened as he gazed down at her. "You really want to know the truth about yourself, don’t you?"

"In the beginning, I was hesitant," Aliana admitted. "But if it clarifies why my soul was placed in this world, I want to know what lies ahead for us."

"What if... it’s something painful?" Gavriel asked quietly, leaning down to cup her cheek. "Would you still want to know?"

Aliana understood the quiet weight of his concern. He knew the agony of carrying a painful past all too well.

Reaching up, she rested her palm over his hand.

"Even if it is painful... I will still want to face it, just as you have. This wife of yours isn’t so weak, you know."

A soft smile crept onto both their faces. Their hearts skipped a beat as they continued to stare at each other, neither quite understanding what it was about today that kept making their hearts react so strongly to one another.

Suddenly feeling shy, Aliana cleared her throat and asked, "On another note... if your plan was to teleport us here from the start, why on earth did you drive an hour out into a desolate forest?"

"I needed to reach a private area where I could freely use my power without lingering eyes."

Aliana blinked, arching an eyebrow. "If you wanted privacy, wouldn’t our bedroom have been much better?"

Gavriel let out a soft sigh. "We have guests at the house, Ana. I didn’t want any unwanted complications should your friend come looking for you."

In reality, Gavriel had driven out to the forest for one simple reason... to escape the house to find some peace away from the strange bickering flirtation taking place between Jade and Cillian back at the residence.

Yet he refrained from voicing it to Aliana. Jade was her guest, and he refused to make his wife feel guilty for opening their doors to a friend in need.

Aliana, now able to read him better, saw right through it and couldn’t help but tease him. "You know... now that I think about it, maybe I should invite Nigel and my parents to stay over too. That way, we’ll have a full house."

Gavriel stiffened briefly at the mere thought of more people occupying their home, prompting Aliana to burst into a quiet chuckle.

Reaching up, she lightly pinched his cheek. "You truly despise people invading your personal space, don’t you?"